User:Alefgard/Matthew T Calhoun

Bio
Matthew Tohline Calhoun (November 27, 1979) is a musician and golf professional living in Kill Devil Hills, NC.

He was born in Niskayuna, NY to Ashley M. Calhoun, a methodist pastor, and Paula Tohline. He has two siblings: Joshua Ryals Calhoun and Adam C Pierce.

He attended Powell Valley High School in Big Stone Gap, Va. and is the recipient of two Bachelors Degrees from American InterContinental University in Business Management and Finance.

Musician
Matt is a lyric baritone and the lead vocalist for the Outer Banks of NC based alternative rock band, 9:58. His is also the dual lead vocalist and percussionist for the acoustic band Watson & Calhoun. Matt considers his musical talents to be borne from years of practice and the constant presence of music in his early years at home.

His percussion experience is pure hand drums and stems from years of both drum circles and formal training. He picked up the djembe and attended formal African Drum classes in Harrisonburg, Va under the tuteledge of Kevin Munro. There he molded proper African drumming techniques and quickly became an advanced djembe player. He currently plays the djembe that he himself constructed out of a mahagony shell from the Ivory Coast and named it "Raeyan" (ray-un). The name is derived from the 2 first names of his friends that first introduced him to the djembe.

Matt considers his percussion style unique in that it intertwines African, Latin, and Irish rhythms into a "pocket lead" style of playing which he has completely personalized.

Golf Professional
Matt's second love is the game of Golf. He began playing golf when he was 18 years old at the suggestion of a coworker. While attending college, he worked as a cart attendant at The Pointe Golf Club in Powells Point, NC. There he learned the rules of golf and developed a deep seeded love for the game. Under the direction of many golf professionals including PGA professional Cory Schneider]http://www.coryschneidergolf.com], he decided to become a PGA professional himself. Matt is currently a PGA apprentice and is looking forward to expanding is career in the golf industry. He is currently employed as the Assistant Golf Professional at [[The Pointe Golf Club in Powells Point, NC.